Chapter 34

2024 - God let's Moses see the land he is giving the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Consider the boundaries.  Moses does not see "from the river to the sea".  He sees Gilead, on the east side of the Jordan, but he doesn't see the Euphrates at all.  He sees south all the way to Zoar, where Lot took refuge, but not into Egypt at all.  So I ask this:  Was the conditional promise about the land that was made to Israel actually just a subset of the total that was promised unconditionally to Abraham?  Surely modern day Israel includes the land that Moses was shown.  But the rest of what was promised to Abraham was never promised to the nation of Israel.  (((Later - WRONG!!!  See Joshua 1:4, Dt 11:24.  It seems that in both of these verses God promised the nation of Israel - as Abraham's descendants, all the land from the Med to the Euphrates.))))  It was promised to Abraham's descendants, both circumcised and un-circumcised.  Here, I think, is a very good argument that the church has become NOT Israel, but the descendants of Abraham.  (((No.  This also falls in light of the verses above.))))  In this context, that makes good sense.  And it explains why the court of the Gentiles in Ezekiel's temple is so large!

Moses dies, on Nebo, on Pisgah, in the land of Moab.  But God did not bury him on the mountain, but in the valley, opposite Beth-peor.  Moses was as healthy the day he died at 120 as when he was a young man.  Would it be harder to die healthy?  Wouldn't you think it unfair to die healthy?

9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. [Deu 34:9-12 ESV]

Leadership of Israel transfers from Moses to Joshua, without quarrel or dissent.  This is truly a different generation than the one that stood here the first time.

A final tribute - a forever eulogy - to Moses.